Utica native Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-New Hartford), chairman of the House Science Committee, will deliver the keynote address at the dedication of Hamilton College's new $56 million science center on Friday, Sept. 30, at 5:30 p.m. in the Science Center atrium.
Boehlert, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in November 1982, is currently serving in his 11th consecutive term representing Central New York. In the 2002 election he won all 11 counties, which included new counties in the state after redistricting, and received 70% of the vote in a four-way race.
A member of the Science Committee since 1983, Boehlert was elected chairman in January 2001. The committee has jurisdiction over all federal nonmilitary scientific and technology research and development programs, on which the federal government spends more than $30 billion a year. It also oversees NASA, the National Science Foundation, and research and development initiatives within the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Commerce.
Boehlert is the third-ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, serving as chairman of its Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment from 1995 to 2000. He also sits on the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, and the Subcommittee on Railroads.
Boehlert was reappointed by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert as a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence. He is a delegate to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, also at the appointment of the Speaker, where he serves as chairman of the Assembly's Scientific and Technology Committee. Hastert recently appointed Boehlert to serve on the newly created Select Committee on Homeland Security. This committee focuses solely on the efforts of the Department of Homeland Security.
Born in 1936 in Utica, New York, Boehlert is a graduate of Whitesboro Central High School and Utica College (Bachelor of Science, 1961). Before serving as Oneida County Executive (1979-83), he was manager of public relations at Wyandotte Chemical (1961-64) and served two years in the U.S. Army (1956-58).
The 24th Congressional District includes all or parts of Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Oneida, Ontario, Otsego, Tioga, Tompkins and Seneca counties.
With the completion of the science center, Hamilton College will have nearly doubled, from 106,000 to 192,000 square feet, the amount of space dedicated to science instruction. The new Science Center will host 56 offices, 48 teaching laboratories, 53 research laboratories, 67 support rooms and 11 high-tech classrooms to be used by the physics, biology, archaeology, chemistry, geosciences and psychology programs. The building was designed to encourage and highlight interdisciplinary work, especially in the areas of neuroscience, biochemistry and environmental studies.
